The book "Finite and Infinite Games" reveals the truth about making money: teaching you to break out of the vicious circle of working for others

You play a finite game, your boss plays aunlimitedgame!

This world is divided into two types of games:

You think you are playing a game, but in fact you are just someone else's pawn.

From childhood to adulthood, we have been taught to be "obedient", "obey the rules", "get high scores" and "enter the system".

Therefore, most people, like a programmed program, study, work, buy a house, pay off a mortgage, and then retire honestly.

Isn't it a bit like grinding a dungeon? Working for gold coins, the boss collects equipment.

But have you ever thought about who sets the rules of the game?

Information asymmetry: determines whether you see a prison or a window

One time I did it with aE-commerceWhen chatting with my friends, he casually mentioned several product selection ideas and platform strategies, and spoke very clearly.

An ordinary worker sitting next to me was stunned and said, "I feel like I'm listening to you say this.Alienlanguage.”

It's not that he is stupid, it's the information asymmetry.

• People in Hangzhou can feel that the air here is filled with the flavor of short videos and e-commerce;
• In Shenzhen, everyone is engaged in cross-border e-commerce. When walking on the street, you can hear people talking about Amazon's warehousing costs.
• The small bosses in Yiwu are open-minded about everything from wholesale price to profit margin.

This is not a difference in IQ, but a difference in environment. It's like a group of people on different channels, each thinking that what they see is the whole picture.

Information density determines the width of your world, and information asymmetry is the biggest source of misunderstanding among humans.

Lack of imagination: the most expensive form of poverty

We are trained to be too good at imitating.

Since primary school, Chinese language exams do not ask you to express your ideas, but to write down "standard answers". The result is: you dare not speak out your ideas, and you don't think about them.

But the world is driven by people with imagination.

Bill Gates dropped out of Harvardsoftware, Musk is hyping rockets and migrating to Mars. They are not playing the game of "college entrance examination", but opening a new map. In contrast, many people are still wondering whether to take the civil service examination.Tangled.

Some people have also struggled in the sea of ​​involution, working like oxen and horses every day. Later, they figured out a truth:

Why do I have to use the skills that I am least good at to compete with the people who are the best at them?

If I am the best at catching fish with my bare hands, why don’t I make this an account? Some people have indeed made videos with hundreds of thousands of views! If I continue to do this, I might have become the best at catching fish on YouTube, and I will be flooded with advertising endorsements.

We become what others want us to be, but forget who we really are.

Finite game: the rules are set, and the game is played inwardly

A finite game means that you must follow the rules and the goal is to win.

For example, exams, workplace KPIs, various assessment indicators, business wars, live streaming rankings... The essence of all these games is:There is a starting point, an end point, a referee, and a winner and a loser.

In this kind of game, resources are limited, so everyone is scrambling for them.

The harder you work, the happier your boss will be. You stay up late to finish reports, drive through the night to catch up with hot topics, and spend the New Year moving and shipping goods. In the end, you end up with a broken body, a broken family, and an empty wallet, but you still can't win.AIand dark horse players.

Does this look like an endless tug-of-war? If you don't pull, you'll be kicked out. If you pull desperately, it's just to make others feel more comfortable.

What’s even more cruel is that some people enter the game without even knowing the rules.

Infinite Game: Break the rules and live your life

The book "Infinite Games" makes it clear that the goal of a finite game is to win, while the goal of an infinite game is toKeep playing.

It's less of a race and more of a dance.

You don’t care about rankings, but growth; you don’t care about temporary highs and lows, but long-term value; you don’t work to defeat others, but to surpass yourself yesterday.

Many business giants are actually playing the infinite game.

For example, Amazon did not make any money at the beginning and was always burning money to build systems; for example, Tesla, Musk was regarded as a madman at first; for example, ByteDance, before the explosion of short videos, their content algorithms were very "stupid".

But they won in terms of time, vision and perspective.

People and businesses only need to do 5 things well

This book also raised five points that impressed me deeply:

1. Positive and optimistic values It’s not about self-anesthetization, but about influencing the team and customers with positive energy.

2. Open Mindset We don’t adopt the attitude of “if you don’t understand, don’t talk”, but are willing to listen to what novices have to say and dare to use talented people.

3. Service Thinking Serve first, then trade. Don’t think about making money at the beginning, but think aboutHow to make others earn money.

4. Flexible Operation When faced with market fluctuations, platform suspensions, and policy changes, you can still stand firm.

5. long termism It's not about speculation, it's not about getting it done in one year, it's about thinking about where you will be and what you will be doing in ten years.

These may sound like chicken soup, but if you calm down and think about it, if you can really put these five points into practice,LifeAnd work, then you are already a top player.

Being a worker or a small boss actually has a hard time

Many people look at their bosses’ glamorous life and think that working for them is like being a “beast”. In fact, some bosses are even more powerful than you.

You get off work at 5:30 every day, but he stays up all night to look at data; you have weekends, but he works all year round; you are PUAed by your colleagues, but he is killed by both customers and platforms.

And those truly successful bosses have long stopped working desperately.

what are they doing?

He is creating rules, building up territory and momentum, and getting others to play games for him.

You think you are working, but in fact you are helping him level up and fight monsters.

I don't want to play this game anymore

I have also fought in finite games, squeezed myself, and worried until the early morning.

But now I understand and need to get out of this.

No more competing on price, no more comparing performance, and no more watching how others live.

I want to turn myself into a system, a system that can continue to evolve.

I cater to the situation when I should, and avoid the situation when I should. I jump out of the table, even if it's just to draw a circle in the corner, and I play by my own rules.

Even if it's slower, even if I earn less, I'm happy, I have a sense of control, and I'm free.

Final Thoughts

Do you want to be a player or a maker?

There are really two kinds of games in this world:

One is a finite game - involution, ranking, fighting, and anxiety; the other is an infinite game - growth, service, long-term, and freedom.

Which one you choose determines whether you are an anxious cow or a calm "person outside the game".

I choose the latter.

Because I want a life that is not controlled by others, not a certificate of “excellent performance”.

Think about this problem clearly and you will be different from now on.

May you live in an infinite game and be the one who is not defined.

🚀Think about it now: Are you playing the game, or are you being played by the game?